and the new still-to-be-built-deck. You can see the framing for it.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Memorial Day Weekend
Yesterday it was a beautiful day here. Mike started by catching up on mowing and weed-wacking. Then we started on moving the extra sand around in our yard so that we can bring in topsoil and plant grass and start working on landscaping. Hauling sand is hard, tiring work, especially the wet stuff. Our neighbors rented a "Dingo," which is a walk-behind small loader that runs on tracks. We were impressed with the work he got done in his yard, and so we are considering renting that to help dig up the area inside our half-circle driveway. It is full of rocks which makes it very hard to excavate by hand.
We recently purchased a tag-along bike with money made from our garage sale profits. It is a bar that connects to an adult bike that has one wheel, a seat, handlebars, and petals. Isacc sits on it and can pedal to help or just rest if he wants. To him it's still a novelty to help petal, and he has discovered that we go faster when he does. We had a lot of fun riding around on Friday. We packed a picnic lunch and headed up to a little spot at the school at the top of the hill by our house. Then we walked along a trail in the woods used for snowshoing in the winter. Adjacent to the woods there is a large field that is part of an old family farm (one of the few not developed yet around this area) that is a nice place to go for a walk. It almost feels like the prairies in Iowa or Nebraska with waving grass and rolling, gentle hills. We will use the tag-along bike a lot this summer on a paved trail called the White Pine Trail. We drive to the trail and get on in Belmont and then ride 4 miles up to Rockford where there is a park to play in, a dam to watch complete with fisherman (usually) and an ice cream shop along the trail. Isaac and I will be able to keep up with Avritt and Emily who don't like to dawdle along, but ride fairly fast.
Tomorrow we will head over to some friends for a pork loin themed lunch. We'll probably try to get more done on the sand excavation or if it's raining, we'll work on a master plan for our yard. We need to figure out where to put play areas, paths, flowers, etc. This next week Ginger heads to Iowa on Wednesday to be with her parents for her dad's surgery on Thursday. It will be a hard week because Ginger's close friend, Aimee, will be moving on Friday, and Ginger will need to say goodbye to them before she leaves for Iowa. Avritt will be saying goodbye to Matthew, his best friend from preschool, and Isaac will be saying goodbye to Samantha. They have been the kids' closest friends for almost three years.
The kids have only 9 days of school left. They have all had a very good year. We just found out last week that Isaac is accepted into the Young Fives class for next fall! Emily will be in 7th grade next year and will be in a new school right up the street from our house. She and a friend who lives across the street are in the same grade and will walk together. Avritt is heading into 2nd grade and growing taller every day. He lost a little weight this last week due to a 3 day bout with the flu. Thankfully no one else was affected. We have a couple of nasty clean-up stories, but we're back to normal.
It feels good to be working on the house again after a break for awhile. It will take a long time to "finish," whatever that means. I have a feeling there will always we things to do. Getting grass back into the yard will be a big step towards normal. So if you're wondering when the house remodel will be done, we don't have an answer. Perhaps a better question would be "What are you working on right now?" We will probably have an answer to that question for a long time...
We recently purchased a tag-along bike with money made from our garage sale profits. It is a bar that connects to an adult bike that has one wheel, a seat, handlebars, and petals. Isacc sits on it and can pedal to help or just rest if he wants. To him it's still a novelty to help petal, and he has discovered that we go faster when he does. We had a lot of fun riding around on Friday. We packed a picnic lunch and headed up to a little spot at the school at the top of the hill by our house. Then we walked along a trail in the woods used for snowshoing in the winter. Adjacent to the woods there is a large field that is part of an old family farm (one of the few not developed yet around this area) that is a nice place to go for a walk. It almost feels like the prairies in Iowa or Nebraska with waving grass and rolling, gentle hills. We will use the tag-along bike a lot this summer on a paved trail called the White Pine Trail. We drive to the trail and get on in Belmont and then ride 4 miles up to Rockford where there is a park to play in, a dam to watch complete with fisherman (usually) and an ice cream shop along the trail. Isaac and I will be able to keep up with Avritt and Emily who don't like to dawdle along, but ride fairly fast.
Tomorrow we will head over to some friends for a pork loin themed lunch. We'll probably try to get more done on the sand excavation or if it's raining, we'll work on a master plan for our yard. We need to figure out where to put play areas, paths, flowers, etc. This next week Ginger heads to Iowa on Wednesday to be with her parents for her dad's surgery on Thursday. It will be a hard week because Ginger's close friend, Aimee, will be moving on Friday, and Ginger will need to say goodbye to them before she leaves for Iowa. Avritt will be saying goodbye to Matthew, his best friend from preschool, and Isaac will be saying goodbye to Samantha. They have been the kids' closest friends for almost three years.
The kids have only 9 days of school left. They have all had a very good year. We just found out last week that Isaac is accepted into the Young Fives class for next fall! Emily will be in 7th grade next year and will be in a new school right up the street from our house. She and a friend who lives across the street are in the same grade and will walk together. Avritt is heading into 2nd grade and growing taller every day. He lost a little weight this last week due to a 3 day bout with the flu. Thankfully no one else was affected. We have a couple of nasty clean-up stories, but we're back to normal.
It feels good to be working on the house again after a break for awhile. It will take a long time to "finish," whatever that means. I have a feeling there will always we things to do. Getting grass back into the yard will be a big step towards normal. So if you're wondering when the house remodel will be done, we don't have an answer. Perhaps a better question would be "What are you working on right now?" We will probably have an answer to that question for a long time...
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Update on Ginger's Dad
This is copied from an email from Ginger's mom:
Jay's surgery for an acoustic neuroma (type of brain tumor that is 99.9% of the time benign) is scheduled for next Thursday, June 2. He will have 100% loss of hearing in his right ear. The dangers are damage of the face and balance nerves.
This is a very intense surgery. 8 hours give or take. They will be drilling a hole 2 cm behind his
right ear. The tumor is quite a ways in there. If you put your finger on top of your head pointing down and another finger behind your right ear pointing toward the middle of our head, that is where the tumor is. It is about 2 cm x 1 cm.
Right now we need prayer that Jay's lungs will clear up from a cold. This needs to happen before next Tuesday or they will have to reschedule the surgery.
Please pray for us. This is a life changing event. We know God is in control and this is a pot hole in our road, not just a bump.
The Lord has taken care of many details so far that are out of our control, that is way we know that He is in control.
Jay's surgery for an acoustic neuroma (type of brain tumor that is 99.9% of the time benign) is scheduled for next Thursday, June 2. He will have 100% loss of hearing in his right ear. The dangers are damage of the face and balance nerves.
This is a very intense surgery. 8 hours give or take. They will be drilling a hole 2 cm behind his
right ear. The tumor is quite a ways in there. If you put your finger on top of your head pointing down and another finger behind your right ear pointing toward the middle of our head, that is where the tumor is. It is about 2 cm x 1 cm.
Right now we need prayer that Jay's lungs will clear up from a cold. This needs to happen before next Tuesday or they will have to reschedule the surgery.
Please pray for us. This is a life changing event. We know God is in control and this is a pot hole in our road, not just a bump.
The Lord has taken care of many details so far that are out of our control, that is way we know that He is in control.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
News
We have had a busy couple of weeks. Last weekend we participated in a garage sale with several others families. It was a lot of work but worth the effort to clean out things we don't need anymore.
Emily is playing softball and Avritt is playing baseball this season. Most nights they each have two games. Mike is helping coach Emily's team this year. Avritt's coach told us that of all the boys on the team, Avritt has the most natural stance and has a beautiful swing. A parent of one of Emily's teammates complimented Emily on her increased confidence and ability this year.
Last week we received some startling news from Iowa from Ginger's parents. Her dad, Jay, has a brain tumor that was discovered when he went in to check on rapid hearing loss in one of his ears. According to the specialist, 99% of the tumors of the kind Jay has are benign. We don't have all the details yet, but he will be having surgery to remove the tumor on June 2. He will lose all the hearing in his right ear as a result of the surgery. We have confidence in the doctor performing the operation, Dr. Bruce Gantz, who is in Iowa City. He has done over 1000 of these types of surgeries.
Isaac graduates from preschool on Wednesday morning, May 25th. He has had a great year making friends, learning to write his name and the alphabet, and developing into a kind, considerate four-year-old. The elementary school that our kids go to has a mandatory kindergarten assessment that Isaac went through yesterday. They have a program at the school called "Young Fives" that we would like Isaac to get into. His birthday is August 27, and we think he would benefit from an extra year to develop. The Young Fives program is at the same school and runs the same schedule as kindergarten. Hopefully we will find out soon about his placement. There are two classes with 15 spots each.
Hope everyone has a good Memorial Day weekend!
Emily is playing softball and Avritt is playing baseball this season. Most nights they each have two games. Mike is helping coach Emily's team this year. Avritt's coach told us that of all the boys on the team, Avritt has the most natural stance and has a beautiful swing. A parent of one of Emily's teammates complimented Emily on her increased confidence and ability this year.
Last week we received some startling news from Iowa from Ginger's parents. Her dad, Jay, has a brain tumor that was discovered when he went in to check on rapid hearing loss in one of his ears. According to the specialist, 99% of the tumors of the kind Jay has are benign. We don't have all the details yet, but he will be having surgery to remove the tumor on June 2. He will lose all the hearing in his right ear as a result of the surgery. We have confidence in the doctor performing the operation, Dr. Bruce Gantz, who is in Iowa City. He has done over 1000 of these types of surgeries.
Isaac graduates from preschool on Wednesday morning, May 25th. He has had a great year making friends, learning to write his name and the alphabet, and developing into a kind, considerate four-year-old. The elementary school that our kids go to has a mandatory kindergarten assessment that Isaac went through yesterday. They have a program at the school called "Young Fives" that we would like Isaac to get into. His birthday is August 27, and we think he would benefit from an extra year to develop. The Young Fives program is at the same school and runs the same schedule as kindergarten. Hopefully we will find out soon about his placement. There are two classes with 15 spots each.
Hope everyone has a good Memorial Day weekend!
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Emily's Post
Hi everyone this is Emily! I decided there were enough posts about Avritt so I am going to do one about me! As you can see, my new room is VERY cool. It's SO different from my flowery, purple and pink room. I love the change. I really like the new color and bedspread. And on my birthday I got an mp3 player from Aunt Amber and Uncle Devin, the chair, clock, and trash can for my room from my mom and dad, various books and dvds and also my fuzzy scarves throughout the year from Grandma and Grandpa (Grandma couldn't keep them secret), the check from Grandma Pat and Grandpa Ted, the itunes certificate from Jason and Shelly, and money from all my Great-Aunts and Great-Uncles. Thank you all! I loved all my presents, and again, THANK YOU! Well there isn't much going on lately in my life right now. I miss all of you and love you too,
Emily
Emily
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